


Might Have Been

by Skeren



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, Sterility
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-23 01:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6100141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack looked back over the last couple decades, and while he was wistful about some things, mostly he was just satisfied with his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Might Have Been

**Author's Note:**

> Written November 2006.

He ran his fingertip along the edge of one of the flowers that was settled on the kitchen counter, a smile touching his lips as he considered how long the cut stem had survived in that position. It hadn't wilted, even after months, continuing to give off a soft fragrance that he was rather glad always kept the kitchen from getting chemically. The memory of how they got there still made him want to grin.

The flowers had been Aeris' attempt to counter Seph's, then, newly formed habit of trying to get things to be a little _too_ clean. The negotiations over what _kind_ of flowers would be acceptable for the cause had been rapid-fire and there had been a good deal of eyeing on both sides. He'd stayed out of it and had hid with Spike in another corner of the house. The debate had lasted hours, and he'd rather enjoyed the distraction he'd picked while he'd kept both himself and Spike tucked in a closet. Thinking back, the blond had been less unprepared than he had been over the whole thing.

He'd always known Seph and Aeris would get along well if they just would listen to him and meet, but he hadn't really expected it to be quite like it turned out. His blond lover had thought it was funny, but hadn't been able to explain how it made sense, just that it did, and he knew that it did. The thing was, even if Aeris didn't tend to argue with anyone else, she'd argue with Seph. It wasn't even hard arguments either, there was never any hurt meant, it was just really intense talking sessions. It was like they argued just to argue. They never got loud, but he sometimes wondered. He couldn't fathom it, and they kept up that tradition of theirs, though not nearly as often as they did in the beginning.

Now, when they picked their battles, they did it more wisely. Other times, not so much. Like when they had to get new dishes because there'd been an earthquake a few months ago. Their argument had been cut short, ending up with Spike doing the selecting instead. All the plates being mismatched in the process, because their dear blond chocobo apparently caught the gist of the debate of sturdiness versus pattern, and has picked what sounded like it fit the bill. The clerk had been about to kick them all out because they got in less than an hour before the store was closing, and none of them had been particularly interested in the idea of going home empty-handed. They had hardly been the only ones who had been in that day though, and the man wasn't all that inclined to give them a free pass to duke it out, so they'd chosen their neutral party, and he'd picked as picking needed done.

Shaking his head, he shot an amused glance over at the dishes set carefully in the drying rack. Abandoning his molestation of the flower, he ambled over to put them away. Blue, green, red, white, and a variety of patterns had encompassed their dishes since that particular evening. It was colorful, and he had to say that was a good thing. He didn't like sterility in a home, and it still gave him shivers to think of what Seph used to live in after they'd gotten back from the war. He wouldn't even think of what it must have been like before it.

The bit of a nibble he'd gotten on that front because he was a SOLDIER had been more than enough for him to never want to think about anything like that lasting for years. Worse even was the idea of growing up that way. He shook his head, neatly stacking everything in their assigned places within the kitchen. To avoid Seph giving the 'I trained you better!' look, he made sure all the cups were open side down, and the heavier plates were settled under the lighter ones, even though they were the same size. He didn't mind keeping track of the details like that.

It was too good to see Seph in a domestic setting at all. He certainly wasn't about to argue with the weird habits Seph'd picked up since they got here. It had been too difficult to convince him it was alright in the first place, so he certainly wasn't going to consider the idea of backtracking. Hell, he'd never really expected to see it at all, optimism aside. Sure, it had been a pet thought, but really seeing Seph in a place he would actually call _home_? No, he hadn't really thought it would happen, no matter how hopeful he was about it back then. 

But, they were here now. He still wasn't sure on the details that led them to be here, and time had only made the whole thing fuzzier, but he knew something major had happened to cause it when they'd visited Nibelheim that first time, back when Spike was just a recruit still. It seemed like another lifetime ago now, after everything that had happened since then, but he felt something, deep in his chest, that indicated that he'd done things right. Seph hadn't looked so hot, never had when faced with a thankless task like inventory, so he'd stuck close. He'd stuck so damn close that he had been worried for a while there that Seph was going to take his head off.

Thankfully, he hadn't. He still grimaced over seeing how close to a breakdown that place dragged the man, and he shook his head over the odd measures he'd felt the need to take to make sure he was right there, just in case Seph needed him. Those had well included failing out on home cooked meals, for the most part, to sit in dusty paper all day and be a distraction for the then-overstressed general he called lover. It had sucked royally even though the company had been top notch.

Shaking his head, he padded off into the living room and made his way over to flip through the music on the shelves for his section. Their tastes only meshed here and there and, though they tended to all listen to each other's choices often enough, they each had their own selection of things the others wouldn't pick on their own. Spike leaned towards this strangely perky punk music, Aeris went in for loud instrumentals, and Seph seemed to favor some of the truly most bizarre kinds of listening material. It had to be the lyrics. It always seemed like Seph picked music that was made for kids, or was morbid in a fashion that hinted at a comedy, dark humor. His own type, he was sure, didn't make any sense to the others. He preferred quiet music with gentle lyrics, usually on the sad side. 

The other three had gotten used to it years ago, so it wasn't exactly a big deal these days. It wasn't as though anyone else was going to be subjected to it. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was just going to stay that way too. They had been far too late in noticing a byproduct that came with being a SOLDIER. If they'd figured it out sooner, he might have known to try some effort detour Spike on his persistence to get into SOLDIER with him. But, he'd been a determined kid, so it likely wouldn't have helped even if he had tried to go opposite how he had on the support, not giving instead of giving. He'd certainly proved he was good for it once he got in, making rank a lot quicker than most people had ever dared suspect out of him. He, personally, had known, of course, because Cloud Strife was made of sterner stuff than the regular folks out there had been willing to give him credit for. He could never be mistaken for the average man.

Downside? He'd been nicely jilted of the ability to have kids. Sure, Aeris could go out and find someone who could, but apparently she loved the three of them way too much to consider it, even if she was just as disappointed as he had been to hear that particular bit of news. They'd been looking in on the idea of adopting for years, since they'd figured out why nothing they tried was working, but something kept going 'not yet'. Well, he was turning forty soon, and he wasn't ashamed to say he'd like a kid now, thanks. That would be one hell of a birthday present if someone out there heard him and obliged. 

Grinning over the idea of getting handed a toddler with a bow and card, he shook his head and put the CD he'd picked in the machine before hitting play. The quiet piano chords made his grin soften to a smile, and he moved around the house to make sure he hadn't left out any messes. Not that he was messy, per say, but he had a tendency towards clutter. Hell if it hadn't gotten him in trouble more than once when someone had tripped over something he'd left in the absolute worst place. In his defense, the incident with the shirt was technically all Seph's fault. He'd missed the hamper.

Come to think of it, he also had to make sure there was no laundry in the machine, because last time he'd forgotten to check, all Cloud's white shirts had ended up a strange nebula of pink and purple. Not that this was a bad color combination, but it didn't work so well for a uniform. Since he was home, that meant that he got to do all the little chore things that needed taken care of.

Usually, Seph was home for this stuff, but he'd been called off on account of politics again. He didn't much like that they'd never really been able to pry the oldest of them out of Shinra's grip, but at least he wasn't active duty military anymore. Technically, he was retired. In actuality, well, in actuality life sucked and there were way too many sycophants out there. At least he got to spend most of his time out with them when they went monster bashing now.

He knew he'd forever remain happily 'unaware' as to who out there offed the good doctor if it meant the person never got himself caught. That had been the only thing that had allowed Seph any kind of chance to get out at all. The only details he knew were that it happened when he was twenty, half a lifetime ago now, and that there had been a general uproar over the whole thing because nobody else knew what, or even where, a good chunk of the mad scientist's projects were. 

Oddly enough, Seph had never had any problem being in Nibelheim since then either. Again, a happy ignoring of what might have been the cause by way of a thank you. He'd heard reports, seen a few things that hinted at someone in particular. Hell, he'd seen the man around dozens of times over the years, but he got the impression that the guy wasn't out to hurt them. As far as he could tell in the few conversations he'd managed, the idea hadn't even crossed his mind.

So he left it alone. He tried to make friends with the guy, definitely, and sometimes he wondered why he refused to stick around. Even when he'd been invited well ahead of time, and with careful planning, if he tried to get him to meet Seph the man would vanish, sometimes for a few weeks, sometimes for years. He got the idea they'd get along great, but apparently one longhaired mystery wasn't about to meet another. Not that Seph was as mysterious as he used to be, age had docked off some of those aloof points, but he was still pretty far up there. 

Laundry taken care of and put away, there had only been some in the dryer, he collected his book and moved back out to the living room to sprawl out on the couch. Aeris would likely be back from school in about an hour, and Spike was due in from his most recent mission tonight. Seph wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning, unfortunately… but he could still make plans. 

In the meantime though, he was going to find out just how big of a mess the pirate in his book had gotten himself into


End file.
